


cemetery west

by OnDesertSky



Category: Bandom, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Character Death, Depression, Freeform, Gen, Ghosts, M/M, POV Alternating, Poetry, Suicide, What am I doing, after committing suicide, josh and tyler are ghosts haunting the same cemetery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-10 14:07:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4394816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnDesertSky/pseuds/OnDesertSky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>dead boys in love</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. josh

**Author's Note:**

> there will def be discussions/depictions of suicide in this story;  
> be careful little beans.

 

 

he woke up slow.  
eyes blurred, foggy brain.  
fluorescent lights crackled somewhere above him,  
sounding far off, underwater.  
a bathroom, he guessed, maybe a locker room

a disembodied form came into view,  
smudged around the edges, unclear.

he tried to blink the confusion away,  
his eyes like molasses  
heavy and viscous

when it all came into focus, he was strangely numb.  
body locked, brain turned off.

something about seeing yourself hanging,  
pale limbs dangling, neck stained purple  
brilliant, red hair already fading  
mouth gaping, eyes wide and vacant;  
well, he guessed that could maybe fuck you up

if you weren’t already dead.


	2. josh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> all he'd wanted was some fucking peace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there will def be discussions/depictions of suicide in this story;  
> be careful little beans.

 

 

he floated past empty storefronts,  
still decorated for christmas  
happy families chattering away,  
not resembling his own.  
from what he could remember, at least

things were getting kind of blurry now

faded blocks of color  
swirling around his mind,  
flashes of who he used to be,  
a crooked boy,  
a sick brain

not much to miss

sometimes their gazes would stick,  
eyes widening in fear  
or maybe disbelief

he didn’t know what it was  
that they saw;  
his faded red hair, empty eyes  
blotched neck, frayed clothes  
a crooked boy,  
a sick brain

drifting eternal now,  
nowhere to go

and isn’t that ironic? , he thought  
all he’d wanted  
was some fucking peace.


	3. tyler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for mild gore, suicide aftermath  
> be careful <3

 

 

he woke up fast.

eyes stinging, bitter taste blooming

on the back of his tongue

carpet fibers digging into the sparse flesh

of his hipbones

 

sharp, metallic ringing loud in his ears

 

thin, shaking fingers reach up towards

his strangely cold lips

flutter across the angles

of his face

 

he tried to find the source

of the noise in his head;

fingers searching frantically

slipping into _wet_

puckered flesh

at the base of his skull

 

_oh no, no no_

 

disorientation snapped,

ripping through the ringing in his head

bleary eyes searched,

burning against the harsh contrast

of red against white.

 

_oh no, no no_


	4. josh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a boy,  
> gaunt and hollow-eyed  
> stands before him, now

 

 

he sits, quiet

resting on his favorite headstone

 

 

_here lies ava west, a mother_

he’s read that line, over and over

feels as if he knows her, somehow

the warmth her smile once held, the love she felt for her child;

but she doesn’t come out at night, no

 

 

he’s asked, voice cracking, wavering in the moonlight

he didn’t know being dead

would be so fucking _lonely_

 

feet kicking absently at the dusty ground,

he closes almond eyes

against the forever silence

hoping to maybe once, just once, feel fucking _dead_

 

 

he’s not sure how much time passes;

it all blurs together now

 

silence snaps,

breaking like glass

 

a boy,

gaunt and hollow-eyed

stands before him, now

somehow casting a glow against the relentless dark

 

“w-who are you?” the boy asks,

warmth flowing out around his frame

with each spoken word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, hope ya'll are diggin this as much as me


	5. Tyler

 

 

He floats, aimless  
Above burning city lights  
Chattering families, falling birds  
No one seems to notice him, to care  
That's what it's like being dead,  
He reasons

 

Absently, his thin fingers prod  
Against the dented flesh  
adorning his skull

 

The noises blur together,  
His thoughts quiet.

 

A warmth pushes him  
Past city limits,  
Into the suburbs  
Some obscure yearning,  
An unseen light

 

He finds himself in a graveyard  
Limbs trembling faintly  
Facing what he's become

 

The warmth is burning brightly now  
Pulsing in his mind;  
It leads him to a tree, a cracked headstone

 

A boy with burning red hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having some computer problems,  
> I wrote this on my phone so pls forgive any errors!


	6. josh

 

 

“ _w-who are you_?” 

 

the words pulsate against

syrupy summer night air,

staccato and vibrant, josh thinks

unlike anything else in the cemetery

 

unlike _anything_ else 

 

he ponders how to answer the boy,

gaunt and unsure before him,

shaking and hollow-eyed,

yet still so warm

 

_who is he_

 

all from before is just a  _blur_

messy and chaotic,

he doesn't want to go back there

 

a reason he left, he thinks

not so certain of it now

 

maybe he is

a boy,

not unlike the questioner 

a...a  _thing,_ as well

 

(he didn't believe in ghosts)

 

he clears his throat,

loud in the night air

"i'm josh"

he answers 

 

he hasn't heard his own voice

in such a long time.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so sorry for the wait. my laptop officially died, but my girlfriend is wonderful and i'm using her laptop to post this! so much love to her. thank you so much for the kudos you all. <3 planning on posting again tomorrow night!


	7. tyler

_"_

_ _

 

_i'm josh"_

the fire-haired boy breathes,

vocals cracking harshly,

sounding as nervous 

as tyler feels. 

 

burning, buzzing thoughts

questions unanswered

 

" _h-how can you see me?"_

tyler asks

the most important of all

no one has seen him in days

weeks

months

 

he recalls trying to get through,

city street corners overflowing,

people blinded to his form

neck straining,

_screaming_

 

no one heard 

 

_"maybe you're like me"_

josh replies,

shrugging a shimmering hand

through brilliant hair

 

_like me_

tyler ponders,

mind fuzzing

 

_"a-are you an angel?"_

 

josh's eyes darken

from melted chocolate

to coal black

 

_"i think i'm just dead"_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo, i made an emo ass playlist for this story:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv2ravZC1VY&list=PLIpDyQJ7W0V_qdLC6rbPLkJJ32WbpE97U


	8. josh

 

josh's mind fumbles for purchase in the dark,

the hollow boy's hesitant words ringing

as loud as ambulance sirens.

 

he can't help the dry hack from escaping past

his cold, cold lips 

something about seeing another person,

after so long

was almost  _funny_

 

this kid didn't even seem aware 

of what he was,

what death's cold, ironic grip had 

transformed him into

 

_  
_"d-dead? d-dead like me? but how...

how is that even possible?" 

the boy asked, chin quivering

his voice a mere whisper in the dark

 

"it's not rocket science."

josh bit out, unable to hold back

"you're dead, i'm dead, we can see each other." 

 

"m-my name's tyler...or it was, at least"

he said, frowning at the cracked headstone 

josh was perched on

 

"it still is, 

no one's gonna change it now." 

josh replied

 

tyler's forehead creased,

the shimmer surrounding his form 

fading a tad

 

josh found himself suddenly terrified of the boy vanishing,

dissolving into whatever plane of existence

waited for them 

after this

 

"do you...

do you think this will be over soon?" tyler asked,

almost as if he was afraid 

of the answer. 

 

josh sighed

 

he didn't even know what soon meant

when put into the frame of eternity

 

 

 

 


	9. josh

they drifted.

 

quiet chatter breaking their eternal silence,

floating past bakeries just opening,

early morning rushes,

dew coated collars pushed up against the wind.

 

as the halo of sunrise

began to permeate the shimmer of tyler's presence, 

josh learned of the other boy's existence

before everything became nothing

 

a star basketball player,

straight A student,

doomed to an existence of never feeling good enough.

 

shaking and silent,

a cold bathroom floor

was the last image he'd seen

with his burning bright eyes.

 

josh found himself mesmerized,

for all the boy's innocence and confusion,

he was so  _warm_  - 

his voice nearly compulsively reacting,

responding to each sentiment tyler expressed.

 

gone was eternal solitude. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can't get to the banner file atm, will add later.
> 
> ALSO
> 
> I'LL BE SEEING THE BOYS IN AUGUST!!!!!!!
> 
> EMOTIONAL ROADSHOW HERE I COMEEEE


	10. josh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> why'd you do it?

 

"why'd you do it?" 

 

josh hums along to tyler's question,

throat bobbing in a thoughtful chorus

he lifts his hand a bit to observe their 

tightly intertwined pinky fingers, hum deepening 

to a close

 

"dunno" 

was his reply, mumbled against the soft, 

glowing radiance of tyler's hair,

fingers slipping into the marred crevice

at the base of his skull

 

"yeah, you do" 

he can't help but huff,

as tyler is right

 

he usually is 

 

"i couldn't take the staring anymore"

he sighs, scraping blunt, dirty fingernails

against the other boy's forearm

 

a harsh breath, fingers retreating,

eyes tucked away behind a sheepish smile

 

"i like it when you look at me"

josh admits with a sigh,

already feeling the warmth of brown eyes

ghost across his features 

 

"i like being dead with you" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> morbidity is my middle name


	11. Tyler

"Do you think this is forever for us?"

Tyler's question is bitten off, lips twitching, crooked teeth digging   
into the pink flesh. 

Josh's answering hum  
vibrates into Tyler's concave chest,  
bodies aligned softly against crackling  
dead grass. 

"Do you think there's something more? Something after this?" 

"I think this is our after." 

Josh punctuated his words with   
a soft kiss to Tyler's creased forehead.

"Me too." 

"Does it bother you?" 

Spindly fingers twitch against  
Josh's cold, pale palm. 

He takes them within his,   
stroking softly. 

"Not now. Not now that I'm with you."

Tyler coos into the fabric of Josh's shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short filler
> 
> This'll be ending soon!


End file.
